


Cheese from the Moon

by TessMooreXF



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Episode: s06e19 The Unnatural, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-24
Updated: 2014-02-24
Packaged: 2018-01-13 16:29:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1233367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TessMooreXF/pseuds/TessMooreXF
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-Ep for The Unnatural. Just short and sweet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cheese from the Moon

The sweet sound of his low humming echoed in her ear while she   
watched the glittering stars above them. The night was getting   
colder, and she could just see her breath beginning to puff into  
the March air. She'd humored him quite well, driving far out of  
her way to reach the baseball diamond. It was part of a private   
recreation center well outside of DC and not anywhere near either  
of their homes. She hadn't even asked him how he'd found the   
place, let alone how he'd talked someone into leaving the lights   
on well after 10 pm. 

In a year fraught with gunshot wounds, peril, anger and jealousy,  
she found that humoring her still-reeling partner was the least   
she could do to assuage the rift that had formed between them.   
And its in that spirit that Dana Scully found herself lying in the  
unkempt grass of left field, coat wrapped tightly around herself,  
at a total loss for words. The stars danced while Mulder remained  
still beside her, spread out and comfortable. She was surprised  
he wasn't a popsicle yet, stretched out in his beaten jersey and  
jeans, arms bare and just a hint of navel teasing from above his  
waistband. His contentment was worth every moment of standstill   
traffic she'd endured to get there. 

It had been a lovely night, in every sense of the word, her   
giggles sent up to the heavens while the balls cracking off their  
joint bat seemingly flew into the clear night sky to never return.  
Wrapped in his arms, she'd felt more Spring Chicken than Left-Over  
Duck, which was more than she'd been able to say for some time.   
His hips had melded to hers, his hands finding increasingly   
intimate spots to home in on while he explained the finer points  
of baseball to her supposedly freshman ears. She'd played   
baseball often in school, but felt no need to tell him this. 

Her mother had always admonished her, "Dana, we all know you're   
very smart; But you have to let a man teach you something. Even if   
you already know. It makes them feel special, and like they're   
needed." Well past her teenage years, she could bring herself to   
believe that her mother was, indeed, right. 

"Scully, do you believe love can change a man?" His voice was a  
soft whisper. 

His question caught her by surprise, and she turned toward him.   
He still stared up at the stars, unmoved by her gaze. "Yeah,   
Mulder. I think love can bring out the best or the worst - " 

"No." He cleared his throat, not noticing her eyebrow raising   
while she propped herself up on one elbow to watch him. "I mean,   
do you think love can cause a man to change in a fundamental way;  
Physiologically?" 

"What brought this question on?" Her eyebrows remained raised.

"I met Arthur Dales' brother today, who happens to also be Arthur  
Dales. He asked me the question." He finally turned to look at her,  
his mouth twitching. "He's even more cantankerous than his brother."

Scully shook her head. "I'm not even going to ask. What was YOUR   
answer to the question, Mulder?" 

He now smirked. "The same as yours. Then, he told me this beautiful  
story about a man who played baseball... but who was also an alien.  
He changed, somehow. He died a human being at the hands of the Alien  
Bounty Hunter." 

Scully could hear the bones in her back cracking while she pulled  
herself up into a seated position. Maybe that thought about Spring   
Chicken was a little unfouded. He had her, though, as he usually did.  
She was curious. "He loved baseball so much he turned human? That   
seems a little... odd, don't you think, Mulder?" 

"I don't think that was the point, Scully." He pulled himself up to  
join her. "I think he stayed on Earth with a human appearance   
because he loved the game. I think the love that MADE him human,   
though, was his love of the human experience. He'd told Dales that   
in his real body, he couldn't laugh, or smile, or sing. On his home  
planet, there was no humor."

"And what kind of alien was he, exactly?" She was teasing him, and  
he knew it. He didn't seem to care. 

"He was a Gray. But he could shapeshift like the Alien Bounty Hunter.  
That guy was around 50 years ago, Scully." 

"So, after Mr. Dales told you his story... Do you believe that love  
can "change" a man, Mulder?" She cocked her head, pulling her knees   
up to her chest. He looked romantic and gentle, even in the harsh   
light of the baseball diamond, while he contemplated his answer. 

"I still don't know." He shook his head. "If I project the question  
onto myself, I know that I've always wished love could change me,  
someday. I want it to make me a better man, but I don't want love   
to morph me into a *different* man."

Scully nodded, then cocked her head. "I wouldn't want love to change  
you, either." She shot him a smile. "You know, Mulder... I think,   
maybe, the point is that a person who is in love, whether it be with  
another human being, with an idea, or way of life... That they would  
reflect what they most desire to be in the face of contentment. The   
man so loved being a human being that he became one." 

Mulder chuffed, and she didn't speak or move while he relocated   
himself to plop right beside her. She wasn't shivering, but close,   
and he wrapped an arm around her rigid shoulders. The caress of his   
hand against her arm was delightful, a little spark of heat while the  
wind picked up. He surveyed the whipping trees and grass around them,  
seemingly unaware of the sudden burst. Left over, brown leaves from   
the fall before floated past them, crunching as they hit the ground. 

Finally, he turned to her. His voice was low in her ear, eliciting a  
shiver. "That's a rather romantic notion, Agent Scully." 

And all she could think was that it was a terrible time to make out   
with each other in that field, the wind forcing her hair into her   
eyes and chapping her lips. Besides, it seemed woefully cliche, lip-  
locking in desire beneath the pale moonlight. In spite of her words,  
she was far from a romantic. Early in her dating career, hearts and   
flowers were erased from the menu, only to be replaced by breathless   
petting over chemistry finals. Ever the pragmatist, she'd found it   
somehow fitting. 

He was tentative while he bent toward her, and she regretted that she  
couldn't hear his breath over the wind. She did him a favor and   
turned to meet him halfway, ensuring no embarrasing nose-pokes or   
chin-battles on the way to his lips. The kiss was warm and wet while   
her face still registered the bitterness in the air around her. She   
was distracted, but grateful, when he finally took the next step and  
willed her mouth open to him. Her hair was still blocking her view of  
anything while their tongues tangled and twisted around each other. It  
was bliss. 

When he broke the kiss, she panted in disappointment, but welcomed the  
oxygen back to her brain. The wind was finally dying down, and she   
cast one more look up at the stars. She could see the clounds just   
beginning to roll in, but the moon still remained unobscured. She knew  
Mulder wasn't much of a romantic, either, but he had a talent for   
taking contrived experiences and making them somehow new. Somewhere  
along the line, she'd fallen in love with the man who could manage to   
take every ounce of cheese out of the moon. 

"Let's go, Scully. I have a surprise for you." He didn't acknowledge  
the kiss, but that was their way. Their mutual distance from romance   
meant she would never be the Harlequin queen waiting for the 'Thanks,  
Babe!' before her muscled cowboy rolled off of her and scampered out  
of the barn. Instead, she imagined that later he would whisper to her  
in the dark, 'That was wonderful', and he would mean it. 

He helped her up, and she wasn't surprised to find that her legs were  
just as cold as the rest of her, wobbling a bit as she got going. He  
was already across the field, anxiously heading to a building across   
the street. She sped up, and his destination came into view. Nestled  
into a small retail corner was a 'Ma and Pop Ice Cream Shop. The sign  
hanging above the door declared that every flavor was home made. She  
couldn't help the wide smile that claimed her. 

"I don't suppose they sell dairy alternatives, Mulder?" He slowed to  
allow her to meet him in the street. 

"None of that Non-Fat Tofutti junk, Scully. That stuff'll kill you."   
He feigned a gag before playfully pushing at her shoulder. "Besides,   
food is love." 

She fixed him with her best glare. "Mulder, when I agreed to go   
along with your 'love changes a man' conversation, this wasn't   
exactly what I had in mind. If this is how love is meant to change   
me, you might not appreciate Agent Scully when she's a size 16,   
trying to chase your ass down a dark alleyway." 

He went to open the door to the shop, an elderly man visible behind  
the counter, looking like he was ready to nod off. "If it's what   
you most want to be in the face of contentment, then maybe its what's   
meant to be." His smile couldn't have been any wider. He always loved  
throwing her words back in her face. 

"Shut up, Mulder. I'm trying to order some Ice Cream." 

 

\----------------------------------------------------

The End

Please do send feedback! tess.moore.xf@gmail.com


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